22nd October 1529. _Henry VIII. Calendar_,
vol. 4, part 3.

[80] This peremptory order seems to have been precipitated by a peculiarly
acrimonious correspondence between Henry and his wife at the end of July.
She had been in the habit of sending him private messages under token; and
when he and Anne had left Windsor on their hunting tour, Katharine sent to
him, as usual, to inquire after his health and to say that, though she had
been forbidden to accompany him, she had hoped, at least, that she might
have been allowed to bid him good-bye. The King burst into a violent rage.
"Tell the Queen," he said to the messenger, "that he did not want any of
her good-byes, and had no wish to afford her consolation. He did not care
whether she asked after his health or not. She had caused him no end of
trouble, and had obstinately refused the reasonable request of his Privy
Council. She depended, he knew, upon the Emperor; but she would find that
God Almighty was more powerful still. In any case, he wanted no more of
her messages." To this angry outburst the Queen must needs write a long,
cold, dignified, and utterly tactless letter, which irritated the King
still more, and his reply was that of a vulgar bully without a spark of
good feeling. "It would be a great deal better," he wrote, "if she spent
her time in seeking witnesses to prove her pretended virginity at the time
of her marriage with him, than in talking about it to whoever would listen
to her, as she was doing. As for sending messages to him, let her stop it,
and mind her own business. (Chapuys to the Emperor, 21st July 1531.
_Spanish Calendar Henry VIII._)

[81] _Spanish Calendar Henry VIII._, 1531.

[82] Katharine to the Emperor, _Spanish Calendar Henry VIII._, 28th July
1531.

[83] Foxe.

[84] Chapuys relates in May 1532 that when Henry asked the House of
Commons for a grant to fortify the Scottish Border, two members spoke
strongly against it. The best guarantee of peace, they said, was to keep
friendly with the Emperor. They urged the House to beg the King to return
to his lawful wife, and treat her properly, or the whole kingdom would be
ruined; since the Emperor was more capable of harming England than any
other potentate, and would not fail to avenge his aunt. The House, it is
represented, was in favour of this view with the exception of two or three
members, and the question of the grant demanded was held in abeyance.
Henry, of course, was extremely angry,